


And It Grows

by mixthealphabet



Series: And It Grows [18]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M, Gen, Mild Language, Part of a series for a reason
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-21
Updated: 2017-06-15
Packaged: 2018-02-09 19:39:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1995381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mixthealphabet/pseuds/mixthealphabet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lucy Heartfilia has spent her entire life searching for a place to call home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Trip Down Memory Lane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things go incredibly wrong on the way to the Heartfilia mansion.

 I _woke up, I was stuck in a dream. And you were there, you were tearing up everything. And we all know how to fake it, baby, and we all know what we've done._

Lucy Heartfilia was running.

She couldn't remember ever running as fast as this, with this sort of despair and focus. It was fascinating, in a terrifying way. Her vision seemed to blur around the edges, forcing her to sweep her eyes around the grounds every few seconds in order to locate herself. The moist soil felt different, and every step was like propelling her body into a free-fall.

She wasn't safe.

Adrenalin pumped through her veins with every beat of her frantic heart, sending her mind into a frenzy of disconnected thoughts.

Was she far enough from the train that the rest of the passengers would be able to call for help? She was sure that the three attackers had followed her. Still, could there have been more lurking around?

She had been fighting for so long now, she must have missed the time she was supposed to call the guild. Would one missed call be enough for them to send a search team? Lucy was convinced that they would be worried. Did she even want them to come find her? She was a Fairy Tail mage, for Mavis' sake. She could do this.

Still, her magic was running low. Her whip had gone missing sometime in the last three hours, between the beginning of the raid and the moment that strange purple-haired woman had tried to grab her bag.

Was it money they were searching? The blonde couldn't tell.

There weren't many people outside Fairy Tail that knew the purpose of her trip. If this attack had been an attempt to stop her from buying back her house, then that was a pretty terrible reason to hurt so many people.

Lucy bumped against a tree branch and winced when several shreds of wood embedded themselves into her cheekbone. She didn't stop, however, for she could still feel the presence of three mages rapidly approaching from the south.

How many people had been hurt? After the first explosion, the debris in the air had obscured her vision, but there had been blood among the rubble. Lucy couldn't help but think about the twins she'd seen running past her compartment; they couldn't have been more than seven years old.

The celestial mage pushed herself on the balls of her feet, grabbing onto a vine and swinging herself over a crater. She adjusted her path slightly to the left.

It was the third time she changed course and they were still hot on her trail. One of them must have been a tracker; the purple-haired woman probably, as she'd fought the others back on the train.

Lucy wasn't sure how long she'd been running, but she knew that the Waas forest was as large as it was dangerous, and that it would be days before she found its limits. If she could escape her attackers, she would be left without any magic in the middle of one of the most deserted places of Fiore.

In other words, she was screwed.

The floor shook under her feet, sending the girl stumbling into a boulder.

She gripped the scarf around her neck, making a knot to keep it on her neck. Lucy had lost many of her belongings, but she could never forgive herself if she lost Natsu's token.

In spite of the pain surging through her spine from a cut on her thigh, the girl's thoughts found their way to her pink-haired partner.

She felt like such a fool for refusing his company. Even though there had been more than one reason to leave him behind, all those motives fell through in the face of this new threat. While she understood the necessity of doing things by herself, the mage also knew that having Natsu near her would forever be a source of strength.

"Run all you want," said a voice from behind her. Lucy caught a flash of red as she moved though the space between two bushes, using her arms to divide the dense vegetation. "This is our domain."

Lucy could really use some strength right then.

Animals moved among the trees surrounding her, disturbed by her presence. They screeched and stomped, creating unnecessary noise.

It was another sign indicating her whereabouts, but the blonde had never learned to move around vegetation. When you're part of team as uproarious as hers, subtlety wasn't even a choice.

The days when Natsu had attempted to show how to hunt in the woods near his house suddenly seemed of much more importance.

Her keys were a comforting weight against her hip. Her lack of magic energy hindered their use, but the presence of her celestial friends was consolation in itself. They would never allow others to hurt her, even if that meant employing their own magic.

The ground shook once again and, this time, the tip of Lucy's boot got caught on a root. The impulse sent her body forward, and the girl slammed against a tree trunk, still struggling to get up and continue running.

By the time she'd found a way to balance herself on her sprained ankle, a woman with brunette hair was already by her side, with a ferocious look on her disfigured face.

"The princess of light has fallen down," she exclaimed to the vegetation around them, with the detachment of a person whose mind wasn't completely there. "She thinks she can still run."

The woman who'd attempted to steal her bag dropped from a tree, hanging from the branches like an animal. She turned her head to one side, then the other, before fixing Lucy with sightless eyes.

"Run, princess, run."

So she did.

Lucy pushed herself off the trunk and started using the different kinds of vegetation to propel her body, in spite of the pain. She knew it wouldn't be long before her attackers caught up again, but she had to try.

Fighting the tears in her eyes and the aches that threatened to rend her body immobile, the celestial mage plunged further into the forest.

* * *

Lucy Heartfilia was sure more than a week had passed since the last time she'd talked to the guild. It was difficult to tell, though, because she sometimes went days without finding an open field, and the dense vegetation obscured her view of the sky.

She felt cold. It had rained earlier and the dampness around her clung to her dirtied skin, weighting her down. Her fever hadn't receded and the greenish tone that the cut on her thigh had taken made her almost too frightened to clean it every time she woke up.

The girl hadn't seen her attackers in days, but she knew they were still in Waas, because their magic floated around her in waves, almost suffocating in the heavy air of the forest.

They were torturing her. She'd realized this soon enough.

In the third night, after Lucy had finally given up on running, she had found a cave where to hide. Three steps in, the blonde had fainted, too exhausted to continue. She had awakened to find a needle and thread lying next to her, a clear indication that someone had been there.

Without anesthesia, she'd stitched the infected skin of her thigh as well as she could, biting onto her sleeve to muffle her involuntary screams of pain.

The message was clear: they didn't want her to die, but any other kind of suffering was fair play.

Lucy inhaled deeply and attempted to stand up. Her knees were weak, failing under her, but she grabbed onto a nearby tree and straightened herself.

If there was something that those women couldn't take from her, it was her will to fight.

Through her hazy thoughts, Lucy could still remember the occurrences that had led her to the forest.

Her train had taken a detour, because of an accident in its usual route. They had ended up somewhere near Cait Shelter, which was when Lucy had called Fairy Tail and promised Wendy that she would leave some flowers for the late members of her guild.

Had she? The memories mixed together at some parts.

They had transferred trains and the new one would be taking a path on the border of Waas Forest; not the most used route, but it would help saving time, apparently.

Then, the bombing. The first explosion had hit the tracks, and, with its momentum, the train had derailed, making a wild curve in the fields surrounding the forest. Some wagons had gotten loose and capsized.

The second explosion had come just as Lucy crawled out from under her upturned compartment, and she was sent flying with the force of it. The lacrima had rolled away from her bag, only to be stopped by the feet of the first bandit.

The red-headed woman had laughed, then, and Lucy had instantly recognized the sadistic pleasure the other obviously took in the pain she'd caused. It was a recurring trait on the villains she'd faced since joining her guild.

The celestial mage couldn't completely recall the fight that had ensued. She must have had a concussion, because the scenes blended together: Loki and Virgo had come to her aid, but the appearance of the other two women was a surprise and Cancer hadn't been able to keep the blind one away.

She had lost Loki's key not long after entering the forest, on her second confrontation with the women; her pursuers seemed intent on defeating her every step of the way, instead of just taking her keys. Not that it mattered, since they had done something to stop her magic levels from recovering.

 _Parasitic magic_ , a part of her brain could still determine, despite her exhaustion.

Lucy was stumbling across the forest again, hot tears slipping down her face from both desperation and pain.

For the first time in years, she was alone. There was no Fairy Tail to come save her, her energy was too low to call her spirits, and escaping was as improbable as it had seemed when she was fifteen and still a child under her father's tyrannical care.

And all she could think was that she had never told Natsu how she felt about him.

"This is how I die."

She stood there quietly for a moment, trembling as this realization settled in her bones.

"We were warned she was melodramatic," came a voice from above, "but this is just pathetic."

Lucy's legs gave out and she dropped to the ground ungracefully, eyes darting upwards in shock and fright. She had grown accustomed to the sudden appearance of her attackers, but, after being hunted for so long, she had also grown to fear their presence.

"Shaking." The brunette emerged from a particularly thick patch of vegetation, slithering closer to her partner. "Not as bright when she shakes." Her lips were pulled back into a twisted smile, revealing sharp teeth and reddish gums. "I'm going to put out your light."

The girl shrank into the root-covered soil, slowly moving away from the other two. Somewhere inside her, the instincts of fight and run fought each other, but her mind spun with incoherent thoughts. Her mouth was saying something, babbling, but it all felt too distant.

It was the searing pain coming from her thigh that silenced her.

"She is delusional." The red-headed woman was standing over her, pressing the metal of her boot into Lucy's cut. "Demagura told us she wouldn't take the potions. The girl's smart."

The pain had taken away some of the haziness.

The celestial mage rolled the name around her brain, knowing that she was forgetting something. The information was barely out of reach, but her time in the forest had worn Lucy out in more ways than one and she couldn't find it in herself to continue struggling against her mental fatigue.

"N– Not drink," She muttered, trying to accompany what was being said. "Don' sleep. Don' drink."

"Yeah, we get it." The purple-haired one jumped down, sighing. "We'll be taking you now. We need to get you cleaned, princess." She paused. "Is it time, Agni?"

"Agni, Agni, Agni…" Both Lucy and the brunette started to chant. The latter started to laugh as beads of sweat ran down the former's feverish cheeks.

"Yes," Agni answered. "And make Ixion shut up. She's unsettling the captive."

The woman twisted her lips, clearly displeased by being given orders, but acquiesced. She extended her arm towards Ixion, running her hand through the other's brown hair.

"Shh. Quiet, now. Metope is here." She continued facing forward, but the cruel smile that took her expression made the hair on Lucy's neck stand up. "Soon, there'll be no light for the princess."

Agni rolled her eyes but remained silent. She finally stopped pressing onto the blonde's cut, pulling her up, instead. She forced the celestial mage to stand, but didn't let go, and the point where their skins touched burned, as if there were tiny explosions in the space between them.

"It's a long way to Demagura," Metope swung her small body from side to side distractedly.

The redhead seemed to take this as a warning, because her expression morphed into thoughtfulness. Her eyes slipped down to their captive, who still writhed against her grip.

"Ix, do your thing."

The woman nodded once, looking strangely satisfied with herself.

Lucy knew what the other was going to do – it had been one of their favorite tactics during fights – and her helplessness against her capturers was almost enough to drive her to tears.

It started when the brunette touched the base of her spine, tracing its shape as she moved towards Lucy's neck. Her nerves burst with pain, her synapses flashed, her breath halted. It was like something was being ripped from her very core, fighting its way out, through muscle and organs and skin.

For a second, the girl felt lucid, like the fog had been lifted and her sight was finally clear again. She remembered a small boy who liked trains and two loving mothers in a castle far away.

Ixion embedded her nails in the nape of her neck, and Lucy blacked out from the pain.

* * *

It was the drum of someone's fingers against hollow wood that woke her up.

The celestial mage felt consciousness pull at her, right before the soreness of her neck and shoulders made it completely impossible for her to go back to sleep. The awkwardness of her position made Lucy's back sting, and she almost couldn't stop herself from moving.

"She's still alive." Metope's tone was defensive. She was close, but her presence was very weak, more of a whisper than the shout Lucy had grown used to.

The burn inside of her, on the other hand, had intensified. Not like the pain she'd experienced from Ixion's abilities, but like the warmth of Natsu's fire, or the comfort of Aries' wool.

Her magic levels were increasing.

 _The parasite is gone_ , she realized with awe.

"The order," a cool voice interjected, "was to keep her busy and well while your master finished with my son."

Someone shifted by her side, and the girl could tell it was Ixion by the way the brunette's bony hip struck her shoulder. She was more restless than in the last few weeks, if the instability of her movements meant anything.

"Oops." It was Metope again, sarcastic despite the gravity of the situation.

"She's breathing, Demagura." Agni was there too, and her tone indicated a seriousness that Lucy hadn't heard in any of the others. "We had to control her magic. You can nurse her back to health."

The celestial mage opened one of her eyes, slightly, and swept the room through her lashes.

It wasn't much different from what she had expected.

They were inside a study: large windows with heavy patterned curtains, luxurious furniture in deep browns, and a variety of books and scrolls that could rival her late father's collection. Even the dusty quality of the air seemed familiar.

Demagura, however, surprised her.

Without Ixion's parasitic magic, her mind felt clear again. The name of the one controlling her capturers had bothered her earlier, but the memory had escaped her understanding, due to her fever and to the delirious state it had put her into. Now, with her torso inclined over the same table she used to seat at, reading, when younger, Lucy felt the betrayal wash over her.

The woman looked older than she'd expected; there were dark bags under her slanted eyes, and her hair – once a vibrant mane of auburn curls – was gray and thin. Fifteen years had passed since the last time they'd seen each other, and the blonde could see the weight that every one of those years had had in the other.

More than anything, Isabela Demagura looked tired.

"Ate is comin', isn't he?" The purple-haired woman was perched up on the other side of the desk, balancing herself on her hands. Her nails dug into the wood, and Demagura's dark eyes accompanied her movements with obvious disapproval. "He can patch her up."

"Master will make it dark. He doesn't like princesses either."

Ixion was murmuring again, rocking her body back and forth.

Lucy had felt that energy inside of her; the chaotic nature of it and how it scrambled up her senses. In a way, it had felt like a veil, shifting in the wind. There were moments when the sunshine would hit it at a certain angle, and everything was transparent, crystal clear. Most of the time, though, the fragments of light that came though were undetailed and erratic, too all over the place to make any sense.

The idea of living like this left the girl in a mix of sadness and admiration for the girl.

"Very well," Demagura put a hand to her brow, sighing, "chain her by the bookcase. I believe it's time we…" Her gaze dropped to Lucy's face. "Catch up."

She didn't have time to resume her pretense. While she'd let herself wonder about the state of Ixion's mind and magic, the older woman had noticed that she was awake.

The celestial mage felt hands close in her hair, pulling her head back. Instantly, she went for her keys, intending to fight, but found nothing. Panic flooded her as Ixion examined her face.

Up close, the other's disfiguration reminded Lucy of the burns left by Agni's explosions. Like cattle, they had been marked, branded for a specific purpose: the palm of a hand against Lucy's calf, from when she'd tried to crawl into a passage back in the forest; the spiral on Ixion's complexion where dark brown melted into a sandy patch of blistery skin stretched over sharp bones.

The blonde shook herself, she kicked and she struggled, trying to get rid of the woman's grip. But suddenly Agni was there, as well, creating a trail of burns down her right arm as Metope turned her head to hear them better.

"Settle down," the redhead advised, stopping at her wrist, "or I'll make this pretty pink mark a blistering red."

Lucy froze as her mind was filled with the memory of a version of herself lying on the ground, tears in her eyes, lacking the mark that had once represented her connection to Fairy Tail and to all of its people.

The criminal took advantage of her distraction and forced her against the wall. The metal cuffs bubbled at Agni's touch, melting against the tender skin of Lucy's wrist; her muscles contracted involuntarily, and the girl bit her tongue, forcing herself not to scream.

"You don't have any delicacy, do you?" she said through clenched teeth.

The redhead rolled her eyes.

"I've no use for delicacy." A pause. "Princess," she added in mocking.

Demagura moved from where she'd been standing, watching, and approached her captive.

Her eyes were as Lucy remembered them: light brown, like the honey she always added to their tea, and calm. Years ago, they'd reminded the girl of lazy afternoons by the pond and the sort of fresh heat that comes with spring. It wasn't until her fourteen birthday that the blonde realized how much more like winter Isabela truly was.

"Lucky Lucy," the woman begun, tracing her jaw with her fingers. "I knew we would meet again."

Lucy turned her head sideways, away from the contact.

"We didn't meet, Demagura." She closed her hands into fists. "You kidnapped me."

The other merely shrugged at the accusation and gestured for their company to leave. Her gaze was fixed on the mage, seeming to take in every aspect of her complexion.

The admiration in those eyes made Lucy's insides revolt.

"Should we bring this to her?"

Metope had stopped by the door. With one hand, she dangled herself from the doorframe, sightless eyes shifting through the room. With the other, she waved strands of golden hair.

 _Lucy's_  golden hair.

"Yes," Demagura replied. "When she's finished, send her to me."

Lucy didn't like the sound of that, but she preferred not to comment. On that moment, all she wanted was to think of a way of freeing herself so she could get as far away from Demagura as possible.

When the older woman transferred her attention back to her, the blonde flinched, but met her eyes anyway.

"Leave me alone."

The other exhaled heavily, shaking her head. It was a gesture the mage knew well, from a childhood of reproach and never-ending lectures. Needless to say that the action had lost its effect after so many years.

"Why such rudeness, my dear?" Her expression wavered from the usual coolness, twisting into something less controlled, almost animalistic. "You're with family, now."

Lucy stared at her with wide eyes, her brows drawn together.

"We are  _not_  family." She was shouting, now, but it was better than following her impulse to spit on the woman's face. "We have  _never_  been!"

Demagura clicked her tongue, shaking her head once again.

The fury inside the celestial mage felt like a storm in formation; it came in gusts of wind, swiping her mind blank, before it all condensed into a rush of torrential curses.

"Fuck you!" Lucy struggled against her chains. "You tried to take my mother's place, and now this? Fuck you!"

"Why, young lady." Demagura glared at her, taking a step back. "You certainly have acquired quite a mouth since joining that sink you call a guild."

Lucy hung her head, still fighting her restraints. She couldn't even see her feet through the tears that had welled up in her eyes.

"Fuck you," she whispered to the air around her, trying to control her ragged breathing.

"As for your mother…" The woman had turned to look at the paintings on the opposite wall. "She was weak. And she was dragging your father down with her. Uniting our families would have saved the Heartfilia Konzern from the hands of the Junelle."

The girl lifted her eyes to stare at her in disbelief.

"My mother died." She blinked away the tears. "My father grieved. And you… You lost. Because your little attempt to trick my father into marriage only served to strengthen his ties with the Junelle. In the end, Sawarr Junelle won."

Demagura spun on her heels, grabbing Lucy's chin and forcing their gazes to meet.

"Sawarr Junelle is an imbecile." Her eyes softened to the previous coldness, just as her hand fell to the girl's shoulder. "And so are you. But you are still useful."

The metallic taste of fresh blood assaulted Lucy's tongue, and she spat it on the woman's shoes.

"How so?"

As her rage subsided, the mage found herself trying to keep Demagura talking.

Her motives seemed simple enough; the Heartfilia name still held influence among those who'd dealt with her father. They all knew she'd been raised to be a businessman's wife, but that qualification seemed to pale in comparison to her own abilities: a powerful mage of great reputation, with the same risk-taking instinct that had been present in Jude Heartfilia, but with the education to ensure carefulness.

But why now? And how exactly did Demagura wish to use her?

There was a knock on the door.

The older woman smiled serenely, reverting to her façade of tranquility, and turned to face the newcomer.

"Come on in, Circe."

What Lucy saw, then, was something she had not expected.

The person who'd joined them had wide dark eyes and blonde, long hair that shone in the sunlight. She unfastened something from her belt, before dropping it onto a nearby table. A whip.

The girl's eyes widened in shock.

Demagura clasped her hands in front of her stomach, looking at Lucy over her shoulder.

"You met someone who could use a strand of your hair to control your body, but you are still surprised by someone who can use your DNA to take your form?"

The celestial mage frowned, pulling on her chains in discomfort.

"How do you know about that?"

Cersei sat herself down, looking up only to lift an eyebrow at the real Lucy.

"How?" Demagura laughed. "Fairy Tail has always been the thing of legends, princess. But after your little conflict with the dragons and Zeref? You became the thing of history books." She gestured to the crowded shelves that filled the room, a self-satisfied smile on her lips.

The shape-shifter tapped her nail against the table, humming to attract her hirer's gaze.

"I don't mean to interrupt the…" She hesitated, sharing a look with Lucy. The two knew that this was nothing more than a flaunt. "I don't mean to interrupt. But I have a message from the trio." She fished a piece of paper from her skirt, extending it to the other woman.

Demagura's smile only grew as she read.

"Ate is here," she announced, finally.

Somewhere in the confines of her bag, three floors away from the room Lucy was being held, an enchanted ice crystal broke into several shards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this has turned into my special place for apologies.  
> I just wanted to say that, as always, life's been busy, and college is great but keeps me exhausted all the time, so it's not that easy to just sit down and write. Still, I wanted to send my love to everyone who has left a review or favorited or followed this story. You have no idea how happy I feel whenever a notification appears in my email.  
> Sincerely, it was some of your comments that pushed me past my lazyness.
> 
> The song is We Must Be Killers, by Mikky Ekko. It kicks ass.
> 
> I also wanted to ask if you guys think I should just collect all of these stories into a multichaptered one, since they've become chapters instead of stand-alone fics. Initially, they were just drabbles, so I kept it as a series, but then I was convinced into turning this into a multichapter and, now, I don't know what to do.  
> Do I erase the ones I've published so far and publish them all together? What about all the comments and kudos and bookmarks they have? Should I let these signs of other people's enjoyment be erased? If I can't do it, do I leave the stories like they already are?  
> Help?


	2. Corrupted Minds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Corrupted people lead to corrupted bonds. It was time Lucy Heartfilia realized that.

_And if you're still breathing, you're the lucky ones, 'cause most of us are heaving through corrupted lungs._

There were very few memories that Lucy Heartfilia recalled from the time before her mother's death. Most of them were related to her warmth or her kindness and some involved what it felt like to be a family, to have her father sit with them every night before her bedtime.

There was one particular memory that was not as welcome as the others.

In it, she had been playing at the garden or something of the sort, because her dress had been dirty and her legs had hurt. She had stumbled down the corridor to her father's office, all bright eyes and messy curls, only to stop when she heard another voice from behind the door.

" _Are you denying my request, then?_ " The voice had sounded shrill and unfamiliar to her tired mind.

" _I have other plans for my daughter,_ " her father had answered. " _So, no, you cannot have her, Isabela_."

* * *

Lucy shook her head and rested it against the stone wall.

She hadn't been alone for long, but the silence of the office already felt suffocating. While she'd always known that memories could weight people down, she'd never felt as overwhelmed as on that moment.

The girl had done her best to escape her past so she wouldn't end up bitter like her father. She had run from the sadness of a broken home and from the picture perfect future that had been fabricated for her. She had found new places with new people and created a life for herself, full of everything that she thought she could never possibly have.

She had fallen in love.

And now she was back where it had all started, among the rich and the influential, quite literally stuck to a life she had never wished for.

Lucy pulled at her chains, sighing when the molten cuffs pulled at her skin.

Demagura had left to find Ate, whoever he was. The older woman had seemed pleased by his arrival, but there had been distaste in Circe's expression, a sentiment barely hidden by her own clear eyes.

It was still strange to think that someone was going around with her face. Not knowing the real motive behind her abduction only meant that her imaginative mind kept coming up with scenarios to explain why they would need her image.

Should she be worried about a situation like what had happened to Elfman back when they were fighting the monsters of Zeref? They weren't controlling Lucy, but if the guild thought that Circe was her, it wouldn't be difficult to attack them from the inside.

The idea was more despairing than her own situation. If anyone in Fairy Tail was hurt because of her incompetence, Lucy would never forgive herself.

She tried banging the cuffs against the wall.

"I will be sincere with you, Lucy." Demagura had reappeared, standing on the doorway with clasped hands and a disapproving frown. "I had not expected you to be so relentless." She clicked her tongue. "I can't imagine the horrors that must have happened to turn you into… this."

The celestial mage glared at her, irritated by the revulsion in her tone.

"I grew up, Demagura."

The woman let her expression soften, shaking her head.

"No, dear. You hardened. You locked your true self away and left it in a cold room, before running from those that had always cared for you." She smiled. "Don't worry. We will find the real you. You  _will_  obey."

The way she said it made a tremor run up Lucy's spine. Despite the different terminology, there was a maniac glint to her eyes that reminded the girl of Ixion's previous statements. The way her lips pulled back created a smile that was far too wide, far too feral to be completely sane.

_I'm going to put out your light._

The magic inside her twirled, stronger than it had been in weeks. It was a reminder, telling Lucy that she needed to bid her time; the perfect moment for escaping would come, but she needed to learn what Demagura's plans were. If there were more enemies behind that door, she had to be prepared.

She had to keep Demagura talking.

"You will never get away with this! My friends–!"

The woman scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"I expected more from you, my dear Lucy. If I remember correctly, you wished to be a writer when younger. Such predictable responses, however, only go to show how unprepared you truly are. Ah, yes, the princess of the Heartfilia Konzern, never as bright as her father would like her to be." She tapped her nails against the table. "Not to further the cliché, but I already 'got away with it'."

This puzzled the mage. If the older woman was aware of which guild she belonged to, she probably knew how fiercely loyal they were. More than a decade earlier, Fairy Tail had fought her father, in spite of how little they'd actually known her. Now, after years of battles and victories and friendship, if she went missing, her friends would go through hell and back looking for her.

Lucy stifled a whimper. She really missed them.

She wondered if they were already out there, searching for her, or if they were waiting for some sign that she was in trouble. Her abrupt departure had left many of them worried, but most had understood that there were certain things a girl had to do by herself.

Erza had been so kind, back when they'd talked about this trip. She had been the first to suggest they use a lacrima to keep in touch, an idea that Levy had instantly put into motion. Her two friends had been apprehensive, but their concern had seemed almost silly back then.

The lacrima…

Dread settled into the pit of Lucy's stomach.

"Circe talked to them, didn't she?" Her tone was panicked and Lucy forced herself to take a moment to breath. "She pretended she was me and she talked to them."

Demagura looked up from where she sat, still thumping her nails against the table. It had always been a tick of hers, something she usually did out of boredom. That was not the reason here, though.

The older woman wasn't bored, she was anxious.

"Your father always did like to brag about your intelligence," she commented, pausing to look up at Lucy. "I was afraid he had been exaggerating."

The celestial mage shifted her eyes to the door, pretending to be hurt. Her mind thrummed with this new information. There was a small possibility that they had noticed it wasn't her, but she couldn't plan her escape around that.

Natsu's scarf around her neck felt like a small comfort, a piece of him that had stayed in spite of everything.

She hoped he had seen Circe. He would know it wasn't her on that lacrima.

"What did you tell them?" Lucy refused to look at Demagura, still examining the room with her eyes. "What lies did you spit out, this time?"

"You should know by now… The trick to a good lie is to keep it as close to the truth as possible." Her steps sounded languid and firm as she approached Lucy. Her fingers found the girl's chin. "It's impolite not to look your companion in the eye when talking to them." Demagura's nails were going to leave marks on her skin. "We will deal with your manners after Ate is done with you."

Lucy didn't like the sound of that.

"What did you tell them?" the girl asked once again.

Demagura rolled her head back and put some distance between them.

"Train problems. Nothing that you couldn't handle." She put a hand to her heart, smiling sweetly. "Oh, if only they knew."

Bile rose up Lucy's throat, but the girl kept her expression blank.

"I can still handle you, Demagura."

The other's mask of pleasantness fell for a moment, replaced by a contorted sneer.

"Soon, you will find out how wrong you are, my dear."

The sun was starting to set. It created reddish shadows in the contours of Demagura's face, highlighting the wrinkles near her eyes and forehead. While she'd already noticed how the years had affected the woman, Lucy hadn't thought about how grim the tiredness made her. The sadness and the spite present on her expression were a strange reminder of all the things one doesn't perceive as a child.

"Your son!" exclaimed the mage when Demagura started to walk towards the door. "You mentioned Taka. What – What happened to him?"

Taka Demagura had been five years younger than her, a boy with dark skin and light eyes and so fragile that the help would never let him go outside. Lucy remembered being eight and crying by his bedside when a simple cold had forced him to a month of bed rest.

Due to his health, they barely saw each other. And after her mother's death, the last thing Jude Heartfilia had wanted was for his daughter to be around ill-looking boys. She was to find a strong, rich man as her husband, something that would not happen if she wasted her time with the Demagura heir.

With shame, Lucy realized she had all but forgotten about her childhood friend.

But it wasn't the moment for self-hatred. Demagura had said something about Ate and Taka, like the two of them had been working together. Whatever it was, Lucy didn't have a good feeling about it.

"Yes. Taka." The older woman had stopped, but had not turned around. "I was wondering when you would ask for him."

When she looked over her shoulder, there was appreciation in her gaze, as if Lucy had finally done something she approved of. The possibility brought a knot to the girl's throat and she had to stop herself from grimacing.

"Back when you were talking to those three…" Lucy tried to lean against the wall to alleviate the pain in her tight. "You said they had to keep me busy while this man, Ate, finished with Taka. What did that mean?"

A shadow crossed Demagura's face, but only for a second. As soon as it had come, it had disappeared, leaving only a new darkness to the woman's eyes.

"There was a minor setback in regards to my son. Your name triggered a state of turmoil in his soul that we had not expected. We are handling the situation. At most, Ate will be with you in a couple of days."

Lucy felt unnerved by the manner the woman had referred to her son. The Isabela Demagura she'd known had been nothing but tender towards Taka. During his periods of sickness, it was rare to find her anywhere but next to the boy's bed.

This time, deeply disturbed by the comparison, Lucy didn't stop Demagura from leaving.

* * *

That night, they took Lucy down to her chambers – a well-lit room with a mesmerizing view of the grounds – and then they tied up her wrists and chained her ankles. The chains allowed her to lie down on the canopy bed, but not much else, which was understandable from the point of view of her capturers.

In spite of the sadness that threatened to paralyze her, Lucy instantly started to exam the room. From her time with Gajeel, she'd learned to assess structural weaknesses;  _that_  was an ability she'd hoped never to need again.

There was a crack in her ceiling, but she could tell by its pattern that it wasn't very deep. The window was promising, but she would have to get through those steel bars and, while it wouldn't have been a problem for the iron dragon slayer, she certainly couldn't chew her way out. That left her with the foot-of-the-bed.

That's what her chains were attached to. The bed had been nailed to the ground, making it impossible for her to move it or to use it somehow. However, the nails weren't as well fixed as Demagura seemed to believe.

By knocking against the wood, she determined that its integrity had already been compromised. If there was something she knew about old manors, it was that they were full of potential escape routes and fragile points.

Levy would have been able to smash through it in a second with her script-magic, but Lucy was still weak, and strength had never been a priority to her. Knowing the spell was only half of its process; she had to concentrate her energy.

If she was lucky, that meant maybe two or three days before she could get out. Still, there were variables that she had to consider: what was directly under her, how long she had before Ate came for her, as well as the possibility that they could move her to another chamber…

She didn't like her odds.

Lucy wished she knew where her keys were. She could almost feel them, like Loke and Virgo were reaching out. However, something was stopping them, curbing their magical properties.

Was that Ate? Or maybe another façade of Ixion's parasitic magic? Could she have infected the keys through Lucy?

The idea terrified her.

It wasn't until her door opened that the mage realized how long she'd spent sitting on the ground. She pushed herself onto the bed, letting the covers fall back and almost hitting her head against one the columns.

Agni pushed the wood with her shoulder, carrying a tray in her hands. The woman didn't notice the other's franticness, for she was too busy grumbling to herself.

"What a pain you are, princess," she said, moving towards the bed. "Should've let you starve."

Lucy didn't know if she meant back at the forest or at the moment, but she preferred not to ask. Instead, the girl brought her knees up to her chest, hugging her legs closer.

"You know Ate, don't you?"

Silver clattered stridently against wood when Ixion forcefully put the tray down, refusing to look at Lucy.

"The purple-haired one, Metope, she said his name earlier." The girl rested her chin against her knees, examining Agni like she'd done the room. "Why are you so scared of him?"

"I'm not!" the woman shrieked.

But she was. At the mention of his name, color had drained from her face. Agni had pulled herself in, flinching like she'd been burned.

The irony was not lost in Lucy.

The seconds that followed were silent. Under the blonde's scrutiny, the other seemed to give up. She moved away from the table, putting some space between her and the captive.

"You clearly haven't met him." Agni heaved a sigh. "If you had, you wouldn't be asking."

"But he's with you. He's part of your guild or something. Like Ixion and Circe."

Her curiosity didn't seem to annoy the woman, because she merely shook her head.

"Circe is not with us. The wench probably wouldn't have come if she knew that Ate would be here."

Lucy knew that she could keep Agni talking. The woman wasn't particularly intelligent and she wasn't suspicious of her intentions, not when the girl remained chained to her bed. She could ask about Circe's powers or about Metope's blindness, maybe even Ixion's burns. However, there was no real reason to keep her there. She needed answers, not company.

"What is he to you, anyway?" Lucy decided to cut to the chase. "You seem to know him, but you're still afraid. You are more respectful of him than you are of your hirer. It doesn't add up."

Agni frowned. She looked from the tray to Lucy, realization dawning on her face.

"I shouldn't have said…"

There was some sort of disturbance outside, like a door had been thrown open. Despite her shock, Lucy knew she had to take advantage of any distraction on Agni's part. Using the shouts that followed as cover, the blonde got up from the bed, forcing the chains to their limits as she tried to reach the other.

Agni had better instincts than she'd expected.

The woman backed towards the wall, putting herself out of Lucy's range. Anger flashed in her eyes and, now prepared, she approached the celestial mage once again, grasping her throat.

Natsu's scarf had fallen to the ground. The contact was scorching.

"Would you believe me…" The redhead leaned her head to the side, like Lucy had seen Ixion do so many times. "If I told you he was our father?"

The girl struggled for air, clawing at Agni's hands even when blisters formed on her fingers. The redhead blinked twice, before realizing that she was choking the captive. Her face took up a feverish flush and her eyes widened, but her hold tightened. And then she threw the celestial mage backwards, making her fall onto the mattress.

Still out of breath, Lucy didn't look up when she heard the door close.

Being alone was a refuge. While it meant not knowing when to expect visitors, it was time she could spend focusing her magic inwards and working on her acknowledgement of her surroundings.

As Lucy sat down on the floor to meditate, she thought about Capricorn's teachings and, for a moment, it was like her spirits were right there with her once more.

* * *

The next time someone appeared at her door, Lucy was ready for it.

She had been sitting on her bed for the last half hour, letting the calm wash over her in an attempt to relax. Even though she'd desired not to be in Demagura's presence, the fact that she hadn't seen a living soul in almost three days was unnerving.

Agni must have said something about how she'd tried to attack her, because even her meals were served by a hole in her door, through which someone pushed the tray until it was within her reach.

It wasn't a surprise when she heard the lock finally turn. The hole had allowed her to watch as those same pairs of shoes walked by her door at least ten times in the last day. The person had stopped a few times, only to give up and continue walking.

She didn't recognize him immediately.

The sunlight that entered through her window was too bright; it highlighted the green in his eyes and the golden of his skin. It hid the details of his expression.

During that instant of unrecognition, the mage feared Ate had finally come for her.

And then she realized she actually knew the man.

Taka Demagura had grown a lot, but his features were the same as always: dark hair, tired eyes and pouty lips. His face had lost its chubbiness, making his pointed chin stand out in a very unpleasant way. He looked like a child stuck in a grown up's body.

She didn't say anything even after realizing who he was. While she'd loved the boy as family when they were younger, her current situation only served to demonstrate how blind she'd been to people's true natures. If she'd missed the scorn in Isabela Demagura's eyes, who was to tell what darkness she hadn't seen in the son?

"It's been… so long." Taka's voice was almost a whisper as he approached her. Even though his eyes were fixed on Lucy, they looked almost unfocused, like Metope's. "I have waited for you. I thought you would never come."

The girl frowned, unsure on how to respond. This wasn't how she'd expected him to act when they finally talked. He wasn't trying to help her, but he wasn't being threatening either. It was almost like he didn't realize that she was being kept there against her will.

But that couldn't be it. The pain around her wrists was an uncomfortable reminder of her position in the mansion, something that Taka couldn't have missed.

"Taka…" she started, hesitating when a grin spread across his face. "I'm sorry I left like that."

The softness in her voice would have bothered an adult; it would have felt patronizing or mocking. Her companion simply continued to smile, tilting his head to the side.

Lucy swallowed dryly, feeling a weight settle in her stomach.

"It wasn't your fault, Lucy. Uncle Jude didn't want you to be with me, I know that. Mother told me."

He was closer now, reaching a hand to touch her cheek. His skin was cold and he was trembling, but, like always, he was gentle in his ways. Fragile bones and fragile health had taught him not to be forceful. More often than not, the one to end up broken by Taka's demonstrations of strength or fury had been himself.

"My father?" Her frown had deepened.

She hadn't known what to expect of Demagura, but it certainly wasn't this.

"He can't hurt us anymore." He dropped down on his knees and his hand went to the nape of her neck, pulling her down so that their foreheads touched. "We can finally be together."

Lucy's eyes widened, but Taka didn't seem to notice.

"Taka…" The girl paused, trying to keep her tears from falling. "What have they done to you?"

The man gritted his teeth and his fingers grabbed Lucy's hair, pulling it painfully.

"Mother told me you would be like this, but I had hoped… What must Jude have done to change you so?" He shook his head. "He will never hurt you again."

Lucy closed her eyes, turning her head to the side. She'd been wrong to think he was still the same, for his hold was anything but tender.

" _You're_  hurting me."

He drew back in response, letting go of her with wide eyes.

"Not only that…" she argued, bringing her tied hands to her chin.

"T-That was my mother," he stuttered. "She says it's necessary. Don't you see?"

Taka was back on his feet. He paced from one side of the room to the other, shaking his arms, clenching and unclenching his hands. The shakiness of his breath gave him a wildness that made Lucy feel anxious.

Her eyes burned.

"Why am I even here?"

He stopped and swerved around to look at her. The aggressiveness in his expression melted away into compliance as he took her hands in his.

"Why? Lucy, my Lucky Lucy…" He smiled. "We'll have the family our parents never did."

Tears slipped down her cheeks, staining her complexion.

Demagura insisted on talking about the things that had led to the changes in Lucy's personality and, yet, here she was, watching as the shy, kind boy of her childhood fell all over himself, unstable even in the way he stared at her. Fifteen years had made him older, but something else had made him damaged.

"You might not see it now, but you will. I promise." He leaned down to kiss her, but the girl turned her head once again, escaping his lips. His grip in her hands made the ties cut into her already burned skin. "Ate will help you, like he helped me."

She shuddered, disgusted by the way he kept invading her space, by the look in his eyes.

"Is that what he does?" she managed to ask through her sobs. "Did he force you to be like this?"

His chuckle resonated through her skin from where their cheeks touched.

"No, Lucy, no. He just helps you see  _who you truly are_." The man moved away, tilting his head to the side to better examine her expression. "Ate will help you see that you love me. You will come to enjoy the life we'll build together."

Lucy shook her head.

"I'll never accept this, Taka." She managed to keep her voice steady, forcing her eyes to meet his. "I'll never love you."

Although his expression hardened, Taka didn't attempt to approach her again. He straightened himself and smoothed down the creases on his jacket.

"We will marry and you will bear my children." When he reached out for her, Lucy pushed away, cowering against the corner of the bed. "Don't worry…" He smirked. "I won't hurt you. Not yet, at least. We have time."

Natsu would kill Taka if he ever heard the man say such things. On that moment, the prospect was strangely attractive.

"Do you hear yourself?" she exclaimed. "You kidnapped me, you chained me to a bed, you separated me from my friends, from the people I love and… What? Now you're going to brainwash me into being your perfect bride?"

Taka just stood there, completely unaffected by her franticness. His brows furrowed pensively, but there was no guilt in his expression.

"I don't agree with these methods. I know you love me, somewhere deep down, and that you would come to me eventually. However, mother believes these matters are urgent. We have no time to waste if we want to stop the Junelle from taking over our company." He sighed. "I wish we could have had a proper courtship. For these conditions, I am very sorry."

Lucy's breath was still ragged from her earlier explosion, but she recollected herself and lifted her chin, staring him down defiantly.

"You're not. But you will be."

* * *

When Lucy's door opened for the second time that day, she was caught unprepared.

After Taka's departure, the mage had gone back to concentrating on her spirits, trying to pinpoint where their energy came from. Meditating helped, but it also took its toll on her body.

Her chains rattled when she wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead, turning to her visitor.

The man couldn't be older than Gildarts, but his build was less strong, less heathy. He held himself like the bamboo that grew near the Waaz forest; too tall to carry its own height, casting shadows over her with its curve.

With knitted eyebrows, Lucy rounded the bed, positioning herself behind one of its columns.

Despite his sickly appearance, the air of malice that hung around him was undeniable.

"Ate."

The man had his hands clasped behind his back and he leaned forward, even further than his natural hunch, as if to take a better peak at the blonde.

"Miss Heartfilia." He nodded his head in acknowledgement. His voice was coarse, but deeper than she'd expected. "You are a sight for sore eyes."

The manner in which his eyes trailed through her body made Lucy suddenly conscious of the tears on her clothes and of the way the dirt made them cling to her figure. Thankfully, she'd rewrapped Natsu's scarf, around her midriff this time, and it sheltered her from Ate's leer. She had almost forgotten the lewd gazes that arrogant men liked to throw her way.

"Why are you here?" She dug her nails into the wood. The serenity depicted on his face only served to make her anxiety grow.

"Well, in order to help you, of course."

He smiled then; yellow teeth and thin lips that pulled upwards in something akin to a grimace. It made a shiver run up her spine, from where Ixion had contaminated Lucy with her parasitic magic.

"Stay away from me!" She exclaimed when he entered the room, closing the door behind him.

Ate blinked calmly and took yet another step closer to her.

"Do you already fear me, princess?" Lucy had to grab the column to keep herself up, as his tone made her knees knock. The terror he'd awakened was incomprehensible. "I see Ixion did a good job with you."

He kneed down and took hold of her chains, pulling lightly on them.

"I'm not afraid of you," Lucy replied as steadily as she could.

The expression on Ate's face darkened. He pulled harder on the chains, making Lucy stumble forward. She knocked her sternum against the column, but managed to stay upright.

"I do not appreciate being lied to." He had made his way around the bed. "I don't think you want to see me mad, Miss Heartfilia."

Lucy had always disliked men like him, who were far too confident in themselves and never seemed to consider how their actions would make other people feel. She'd met them in balls and through her travels, when she was still too young to fully distance herself from them.

Every aspect of Ate's image, from the cape draped across his shoulders to the tranquility of his stride, spoke of old money.

What in Mavis' name was a man like this doing working for Demagura?

"You have no idea what I'm thinking," she spit out, still holding onto the column.

They stared at each other in silence.

Ate's eyes were calculating and Lucy struggled not to shift away. She knew the man was measuring her, waiting for a moment of weakness. While she didn't know what type of magic he possessed, she knew it probably had something to do with her memories or her sense of being and this prospect was more terrifying than she would like to admit.

If he had been able to turn Taka into the mess she'd met earlier, Lucy was not looking forward to his plans for her.

She could feel the same sort of energy in him as she'd felt in Ixion. He was chaotic in his own right, but the discipline with which he hid it was more terrifying than the woman's insanity could ever be.

"Has anyone ever touched you, Lucy?" Ate had backed her into the column and was now standing mere inches from her. "Has anyone ever known you… intimately?"

His voice was heavy as he spoke, charged with a sort of amusement that could only come from sadism. Even though there was no contact between them, it made Lucy's skin crawl.

In spite of the nausea that Ate's presence caused, the blonde's mind focused on Natsu.

She thought about late nights talking, when they got home after a quest and found themselves too excited to go to sleep. She thought about the way they'd danced in her kitchen and about how warm his arms always felt around her. She thought about that morning – it seemed so long ago now – when she'd woken up to find him staring at her through half-lidded eyes, a content expression on his face. Lucy had felt overwhelmed then, but she missed the feeling now.

_Natsu_ , she called for him in her mind.

Ate pulled back, standing up straight for the first time since he'd walked into the room. With his shoulders back, the man should have looked more threatening, but he only looked gangly. His eyes narrowed.

Without his form looming over hers, Lucy took a deep breath, regaining her previous defiance.

"I don't know what you think you are doing, but you'll regret it." She glared at him. "Demagura says she heard stories about my powers… I guess you'll find out first hand."

As she finished talking, Ate's expression was cautious, but the man didn't back down.

His fingers touched her cheeks, before trailing down to her lips, then to her neck. Ate paused there, wrapping his hand around her. He must have felt the way her breath caught, because he leaned down, almost brushing her ear with his mouth. She tasted bile when she felt the humidity of his breath on her nape.

"Oh, princess… I'll love to see you break."

He released her neck, turning around and walking away.

Lucy waited with bated breath until she could no longer feel Ate's presence. Then, she slid down the column of the bed, wrapped her arms around herself, and she started to cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, guys! Missed me?  
> Ok, I'm so sorry for how long this chapter took me. I sincerely had the busiest semester possible: 14 different subjects, plus extra activities, plus junior enterprise. I hope your year was less crazy than mine.
> 
> I just wanted to thank everyone who continued reviewing, reading and favoriting this fic. I think I wouldn't have had the motivation to write this if it weren't for you. You have no idea how much you guys mean to me. A special thanks to Elle (Double-Elle), who is my kickass beta.
> 
> If anyone feels like I should add warnings to the story, please let me know.
> 
> Anyway… The song is Youth by Daughter.


	3. The People Who Love Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The guild finds out that something happened to Lucy.

_I don't know where you are, but I know what I'm feeling._

 

Natsu Dragneel wasn’t one to usually worry about things.

He, more than anyone, knew that failing was just another step towards being a better mage, a better person. He knew that the strength that came from facing his fears and surpassing his limits was one of the things that no one could ever take away from him. And yet, there he was, watching the blank lacrima with a strange weight in his chest.

_That’s not Lucy._

He could list several reasons as to why he had this certainty: how she had never moved her hand in such a manner, how her smile was too big and too insincere, how hollow her eyes had looked. That would have been the sort of sensible explanation that Lucy would have expected from someone trying to form a rescue team, though she probably wouldn’t have expected that from him.

He missed her terribly and maybe that was messing with his mind in some way, but he was actually unable to gamble her life on this uncertainty.

He was going to find her, even if that meant receiving a Lucy Kick to the head.

Natsu pushed himself off the table. His hands had grown hot with his tumultuous thoughts, and his fingers had left charred marks on the wood; the illustration of the violence that swirled inside him was strangely satisfying.

Just as he reached the stairs to Laxus’ office, Gray appeared next to him.

“That was not Lucy.”

Gray nodded, his right brow trembling like it usually did whenever he was hesitating to say something.

While Natsu knew that he wasn’t the most observant person out there, he had been able to recognize some of his friends’ tells through the years they had grown up together. It was rare that they tried to hide things from each other – and when they did, there was usually a reason – but that knowledge could come in handy in times like these.

“What is it?” he growled, blocking Gray’s path with his arm.

The ice mage grumbled, but made no move to retaliate.

“The crystal,” Gray answered after a beat, “it fucking broke.”

Natsu’s face contorted into a grimace of fury, lips pulling downwards, and then he thrust a flaming fist against the wall.

The guild shook from its force.

From where they were, the two mages watched with baited breath as Erza stood up from the bar and swept her eyes across the crowd, looking for them.

Before she could say anything, however, Natsu had pulled his hand from the hole on the wall and walked closer to the balcony.

“It wasn’t Lucy, Erza!” he shouted. “It was a fucking imposter and now we have no idea where she is!”

The guild bristled. His statement passed through them like a tremor; it was a weight on their chests and a shiver down their spines. Levy frowned, Cana put her drink down, and a muscle jumped in Gajeel’s jaw.

Lisanna and Mira stood up quickly, running past Gray and Natsu into Laxus’ office.

“Gray,” Erza called from her spot amidst the confusion. “Is Natsu correct in his assumptions?”

The boy gave her a curt nod. He put a hand in his pocket, where the icy shards probably were.

“Why now?” Natsu turned to look at his friend, frowning at his question. “She had been missing for weeks, but it wasn’t until now that Cana’s magic worked.” He brought out a shard, letting it glint in the sunlight. “I don’t like this at all.”

Natsu looked at the closed door, to where the Strauss sisters had disappeared. He wouldn’t pretend to understand Cana’s magic or the variables involved in this situation. All he knew was that Lucy was in danger somewhere, maybe because of an elaborate plan to get her away from Fairy Tail.

“I don’t know, Gray.” He glared at the hole he’d created on the wall. “But if someone hurts her, I’m going to turn them into ash.”

“Always an idiotic hothead.” The door to Laxus’ office creaked open, but it was Makarov who stepped out. “Kid, you never learn.”

Natsu growled.

“As much as I hate to admit it, I’m with the idiot on this one.” Gray sighed. “This was a direct attack. We can’t just let it be. No matter how strong Lucy has gotten, she’s still in danger and we’re still her friends.”

Makarov swatted him upside the head with an enlarged hand.

“Did I say anything about letting it be?” He glared at them. “We need a plan. This is a rescue mission, not an all-out war. Our focus has to be getting Lucy safe.” There was a pause, in which the old man let his gaze shift across the guild. “If Gray is right and she’s been abducted for more than two weeks, we need to be prepared for the sort of care she might need.”

Natsu gritted his teeth.

He hated the reality of this. Lucy had always had the bad luck of getting herself caught and then having to endure torture. She had a strong mind — had always had a strong mind — but that did nothing to diminish the pain that surged in his chest every time he thought about her suffering.

He hated that she’d left without him. He hated that he hadn’t done anything to convince her to stay. He hated that he might have been one of the things that were pushing her away.

“I hate this!” he complained, watching as Erza and Wendy walked up the stairs towards them.

“Of course you do,” Erza conceded, putting a hand on his shoulder as she sidled up to them. “We will find her, however, and whoever did this will pay. In the meantime, we have to determine how we will approach this.”

If there was something he truly liked about the redhead, it was her confidence in the face of battle. She didn’t shift between anxiety and overconfidence like Lucy, and she didn’t take it lightly as Natsu himself did. Erza was realistic, her confidence was pure skill and her assurance meant more than Natsu could ever express.

Instead of trying to say anything, he dropped his eyes to the ground and nodded.

“I say we divide into teams.” Laxus appeared behind Makarov, Mira and Lisanna at his sides. “Lucy said she would leave flowers at Cait Shelter’s old grounds, right?” Wendy nodded. “Then you go with Cana, Carla and Mest. Gajeel, Pantherlily and Levy can help retrace her steps.”

Natsu stared at him, incredulous. Before he could voice his rage, though, Erza and Gray had moved forward.

“What about us,” Erza paused, before adding, “Master?”

Laxus took a long moment to respond.

“You will take Natsu, Gray and Happy. Lucy was on her way to her childhood home. Start there, ask around.” He turned to give Natsu a stern glance. “Subtly.”

The pink-haired boy glared back. He was aware of his own shortcomings, but even Laxus knew that he would never do anything to put Lucy in danger.

Subtle. He could be subtle.

“I’ll try to reconnect the call through the lacrima,” Mira said, wringing her hands together. “We might overhear something that will help.”

Lisanna leaned against her sister, putting a hand over hers, but her eyes went to Natsu.

“We can do it,” she assured. “We’ll bring Lucy back.”

* * *

“I hate trains,” Natsu complained as he stumbled onto the platform. The greenish tint of his skin was already fading, but the ground still wobbled under his feet. “And we’re losing time.”

Erza fixed him with hard eyes, but stopped herself from snapping at him.

“Shut up, fire for brains,” Gray intervened. He pulled Natsu up to full height and forced him to trail after the redhead. “Mest saved us a week of travelling already. Be grateful for that!”

Natsu scowled.

He knew he was being somewhat unreasonable, but it was difficult to stay quiet when everything felt so aimless. They had no idea where to start, because Lucy’s scent would have probably faded after being missing for so long. Cana’s magic was being blocked by something and even _Laxus_ seemed to be worried.

Saying the situation was difficult would be the understatement of the decade.

Aside from that, his head was killing him. There was a pounding pain behind his eyes that made his vision sort of blurry, and it was making him grumpy.

He kept remembering that dream.

_Help me._

Lucy had always had a way with getting into his head, but this was ridiculous. If, for some reason, their magic was acting up and was creating this connection between them, it could only mean trouble.

And they had already wasted so much time.

“How are you so calm, Gray?” he muttered through his teeth, trying and failing not to sound miserable.

His friend glanced at him. Gray’s gaze was usually more of a sneer, challenging even when he held back on his words, but something had changed. There was no defiance in his eyes, just drive.

“Because I know we’re gonna find her, Natsu.” He twisted his lips, grimacing. “We have to.”

Happy was floating a few feet in front of them, near Erza, and Natsu was glad that the Exceed hadn’t heard the exchange. He was always the last to lose hope, the last to despair, and Natsu felt like they needed that at the moment.

Erza stopped as they reached a small inn. They were still a long way from the mansion, but it was as close as they could get before night fell.

Natsu knew this, but it still made him uneasy.

“It’s almost time for us to talk to the others,” the redhead announced. She stood in the front steps of the establishment, her armor glinting in the reddish hues of the sunset. “I’ll get us the rooms. The three of you should speak to the villagers.”

They nodded, all too tired to argue.

Happy was mumbling about fish, and Natsu forced himself to smile.

“I’m sure there is a river around here somewhere!” he exclaimed brightly, already moving away from where Erza still watched them. He knew better than to look at her, afraid of the sadness that he would probably find there.

For all her determination and strength, Erza also felt things very deeply.

So Natsu let her be, because he knew she needed the time and because he knew Happy needed him.

“Do you want to go find some place to eat before we try fishing?”

The Exceed hummed.

“There must be some good fish in those stores we saw,” he said after a moment of consideration. “Lucy wouldn’t trade us for this place if there wasn’t anything good here.”

Natsu pulled his lips into a grin, choking out a laugh.

“Hopefully not too good a fish, then,” he remarked, with as much light-heartedness as he could muster. “We don’t want her to stay here forever.”

Happy nodded eagerly at that.

Natsu let his eyes fall to the ground.

He couldn’t even believe that there was still that to worry about. He had felt better about the whole situation after talking to Lucy, of course, and he would probably feel even better when she was safe again, but the mansion thing was still a… well, a thing.

If she wanted to leave, he wouldn’t be able to stop her, wouldn’t want to. Lucy had every right to choose her childhood home over Fairy Tail.

As unlikely as it sounded, the idea still made something inside him clench.

They had to find her first, though.

“You don’t think anything bad has happened to Lucy, do you?” Happy asked, sidling up to him. “She’s weird, but I…”

Natsu patted the top of Happy’s head. He tried to force his expression into something less heavy, but it all just seemed too inadequate. He was angry and exhausted and _desperate_.

He had never realized how much it hurt to have her in danger. Theirs was a difficult career, sure; magic tended to attract all kinds of people with all kinds of intentions.

It just hadn’t occurred to him that he could lose her.

“I hope not, Happy.” Natsu stared ahead, to the mountaintops that he knew hid the Heartfilia state. “I hope not.”

* * *

It was dark when they got back to the inn. Shadows flickered over the grounds, creating shapes in the emptiness of the night.

Very few people remained on the streets. They didn’t seem frightened or sketchy, just tranquil, as if the sunset had taken with it the hastiness of the day. Kids played rock-paper-scissors on a doorstep under the watchful eye of an older woman, and two older boys walked down the street, holding hands.

It was oddly comforting.

Natsu let Happy fly ahead. The Exceed was too satisfied with his dinner to stop and take in the village, but he too seemed affected by its calm.

He wondered if Lucy had grown up thinking about this place, about the soft look those people carried and the laugh lines on their faces. She had been close to all of this, but still so completely unreachable inside the stone walls of the Heartfilia mansion.

He wondered if it would have been enough for her, anyway.

“Any luck with the villagers?” Gray asked as soon as they’d entered. From the door that connected their rooms, he could hear Erza talking with someone.

Natsu shook his head.

“Nah. They said some people were sent to prepare the house, but that was a week ago. We brought dinner, though.” He threw Gray one of the sandwiches, setting the others on the table. “What about you?”

Gray shrugged, unwrapping his food.

“There was that, but…” He frowned. “This other family, the Demaguras, they are back in town. And, get this, they were close to the Heartfilias.”

Happy perched on top of the table, blinking up at them. “That’s a good place to start, isn’t it?”

“As good as any,” Gray answered, but something on his expression didn’t sit right with Natsu.

He didn’t have time to figure out what, because Erza burst into the room, holding the lacrima in her hand.

“Levy found something.”

They sat down as the image of the script mage came into focus. She had glasses on, going over something as Gajeel scowled in the background.

“It’s not looking good, guys,” Levy said. Her lips trembled, but her eyes were clear. “After Wendy found out Lucy had been to Cait Shelter’s grounds, she was able to tell us which route she took next.” She paused, lifting her eyes to Natsu. “There was an incident with the train.”

Gray crossed his arms over his now naked chest, eyebrows creased.

“So it was Lucy calling? She was telling the truth?”

Levy grimaced. Behind her, Gajeel cast his eyes down, and Natsu got the distinct impression that they had joined hands.

“Not at all,” Erza remarked, motioning for Levy to continue.

“It was an attack. We talked to some of the injured and they said the only reason no one died was that a pretty blonde girl forced the attackers into the forest. But no one has seen her since.”

“You think it was Lucy?” Happy’s voice sounded so small that it took Natsu a moment to understand what he’d asked.

Gajeel nodded. “We’re sure it was Bunny Girl. We searched the forest and we found the pervert lion’s key.”

“You mean Loki is there?” Gray had moved forward in his seat, as if he was trying to catch sight of the celestial spirit.

“No, he left earlier,” Levy explained. “His key had this magic blockage that had prevented him from entering our dimension. We are still waiting for Mest, Cana, Wendy and Carla.” She sighed. ”About the forest, though, there is something you should know. Apparently, there’s an area of the Waas forest that no one enters, because it’s mercenary territory.

“A female trio and their handler. They don’t usually mess with the town people, which is why there’s no reward for them, but everyone seems convinced they were the ones after Lucy.”

Erza nodded at this. Her lips were pressed tightly, but it was the thoughtful look in her eyes that caught Natsu’s attention.

“I assume you have already interrogated the necessary people on the matter of their appearances.”

Gajeel smirked.

“A tall girl with brown hair, a crazed expression and scars on her face, a short girl with purple hair who is very limby, and a redhead with several burns. We didn’t get much on the man. The most people could remember was that he was gangly.”

Erza hummed at this information, getting up to walk towards the window.

“Are there any clues regarding their hirer?”

Levy bit her lip, unsure.

“That’s one of the things that don’t add up. Some dockworkers say they stole a ship earlier this week, but we checked today and all the ships are accounted for.”

It was Gray’s turn to stand.

“A ship? A private ship or a commercial ship?”

Levy frowned at this, before looking down at her annotations with wide eyes.

“Commercial, definitely commercial.” She flipped a few pages. “Here! Demagura Enterprises!”

Natsu turned to Gray, who was gritting his teeth in anger.

Erza exhaled slowly, like she did whenever she was trying not to pummel them into the ground. “It seems we have found our target.”

* * *

Once the lacrima had gone blank, Levy pulled the glasses away from her face and rubbed her eyes.

She felt exhausted. She hadn’t been back from her last mission for long and her magic was still at dangerously low levels, especially after everything they’d gone through in the past couple of days.

There was something else bothering her, however.

Levy breathed deeply as she put the lacrima down on the table. Gajeel was still sitting on one of the beds with Pantherlily and she could feel his eyes on her back.

“I should have told them, shouldn’t I?” She turned her head slightly to the left, not quite glancing at him.

“I don’t know,” he confessed, crinkling his nose. In spite of his annoyed demeanor, Levy could tell that most of his irritation was actually worry. “Salamander would’ve reacted badly.”

She swallowed the knot that had appeared on her throat at the thought of Natsu’s response.

“We could have told him that we caught her scent and that it led us to the docks.”

The bed crackled under his shifting weight and Levy felt Gajeel approach her.

“Her scent shouldn’t have been strong enough for that. You know he would have asked how that was possible.”

Levy tried to laugh, but it got caught on her throat, coming out more like a cough.

“You might be overestimating Natsu.”

Gajeel took her hand in his once again and pulled until she was looking at him.

He shook his head.

“Bunny—“ He stopped. “Lucy will be fine. She survived me, didn’t she?”

As strange as that memory was, it was nonetheless reassuring. The celestial mage had been through a lot in her life, had escaped dangers that Levy herself could only imagine. It was a side effect of being part of such a strong team, but it was also because of Lucy and her caring, somewhat violent nature.

And yet…

“You said her scent was everywhere in the forest, Gajeel.” Levy felt tears build up in her eyes. “The amount of blood she must have lost… It would be impossible for her to have survived without medical care.”

Gajeel’s grip on her hand tightened.

“She is alive, shorty, we would have known if she were dead.”

Levy let out a sob.

“Maybe,” she relented. “That would mean they were patching her up, just so they could bleed her once again. They were _torturing_ her. It doesn’t matter if she’s strong or not, that is…” She growled. “That is unforgivable!”

The dragon slayer lowered his gaze to the lacrima, unable to meet her eyes.

It was a strange sight, but not really that surprising. Gajeel hadn’t been all that close to Lucy, not after how they’d first started, but he _was_ protective of her. Levy didn’t know if it had something to do with what she was to Natsu — a dragon slayer thing, maybe — or if it was just his guilt over his past actions, but the fact still stood.

Gajeel was furious.

In a way, it soothed her own anger. Her faith in him was almost as strong as her belief that Natsu would never give up on Lucy.

She intertwined their fingers, tears finally streaming down her face. Now that she had broken down, it was impossible to hold back her pain.

Gajeel pulled her to him, fitting her against his chest.

“They will pay for it, Levy. I swear.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone. I know this chapter is a bit shorter than the last ones, but this year has been one rollercoaster ride for me. I got really fed up with FT for a while there, then I was dealing with college and family and being a TA, AND THEN I got this scholarship to study abroad for some time. So, that's what's happening. I'm finally done preparing everything for my trip to Portugal, so I got some time to sit down and write.
> 
> I promise I will try to update soon. I have a pretty good idea of what's going to happen next chapter. I just felt like this one should focus on the emotions regarding the guild finding out about everything
> 
> The song is Learn to run, by David Vertesi.


	4. Undergoing a rewrite

Hello, everyone. Sorry, no, this is not a chapter.

On the bright side, I am going to continue this story. I have posted a new story under the name [Something More](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11210346/chapters/25041318), which will be a rewrite of this story. It's been years since I first started writing this and a lot has changed for me, so it would mean a lot if you guys could go check that out and see the evolution.

I hope you all know how thankful I've been for your presence all these years. Your reviews got me through some dark times.

 

Sincerely,

Lari.


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